Telegraph’s Soros splash used as propaganda by Hungary’s far-right government

The fallout over the Telegraph’s controversial front page on George Soros has taken a predictable but troubling twist this afternoon.

Hungary’s autocratic administration have seized on the widely criticised story, credited to Theresa May’s former special adviser Nick Timothy, as evidence of the need for their crackdown on civil society.

Zoltan Kovacs, spokesman for the country’s populist right-wing Prime Minister Victor Orban, has published a blog on a government website titled: “Why do we say ‘Stop Soros’? Just ask the people of the United Kingdom”

Hungary’s government are currently bringing forward a bill to restrict the freedoms of foreign NGOs, which they’ve dubbed the “Stop Soros” law and is being contested in the European Court of Justice.

Kovac’s article concludes:

“This latest news from the battle front of Brexit is the latest, outrageous example of what we’ve been saying all along: Soros is not a philanthropist and his Open Society network is not a charity.

“He is a brazen political actor who uses his foundation to drive a radical political agenda around the world, often opposing the will of local citizens if they don’t agree with his open society ideology. Yet, he has no democratic mandate. He represents nobody.

“Why do we say “Stop Soros”? Just ask the people of the United Kingdom.”

Nick Timothy was keen to stress yesterday that he hadn’t mentioned Hungary in the article he wrote for the Telegraph:

But that hasn’t stopped Orban and his Fidesz party from using his piece to help their far-right, anti-immigrant agenda.

Whether he or the Telegraph like or not, it’s now indisputable that they’ve handed the most dangerous government in the EU a huge propaganda coup…